7 Self-Care Tips You Should Try Out

Ruby explains that she uses creative outlets for her mental health issues:

“I think anyone who’s been there has heard the standard ‘flick a rubber band against your wrist’ or ‘squeeze ice cubes’ mantras used by professionals. No one really tells you that creative outlets like knitting and doodling can also work really well. It’s about finding what’s right for you in that moment; there’s no right or wrong way to go about this stuff. When I was struggling with frequent and intense urges to hurt myself or worse, drawing was one of the only nondestructive ways I could express the overwhelming distress that was behind them.”

Elliot / Trapeze

If you have 5 minutes: Gather some photos that mean a lot to you.

This suggestion comes via commenter tiggaplease.

“I rarely feel like reading during rough times, so I made this little board with pictures of achievements or happy times to inspire me and remind me that life is not always rough. So I’ve put up the obvious college graduation that meant so much because I was the first in my family, a couple taken in a fun setting at a former job where I was having the time of my life (until I was laid off, but I got back up on my feet), and any other “first” that I had immortalized. Anything, really, that reminded me both of struggles I’d had to fight, but victories or progress in the end. ”

If this feels like too big a project, why not print out photos of your friends to put at your desk, or change your phone background to a photo that makes you smile?

Becky Barnicoat / BuzzFeed

If you have 10 minutes: Make a low maintenance plan for yourself.

This tip comes via commenter Jade Stokely:

“I went super back to basics with my expectations of myself. Like, if I tell myself I'm gonna work out and meal prep and clean and draw on my day off, I am just not going to get out of bed because it's too overwhelming. (Instead of exercise I just try to stretch once a week. Instead of pressuring myself to eat healthy, I just try to eat twice a day minimum. etc.) So even if all I manage to do is get out of bed, I can still tick the box or give myself a sticker or whatever,and I can just be proud of what I did manage.”